Electronic On-line Incident Reporting System (IRS) as a Tool for Risk Assessment in Radiation Therapy

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Medical Physics
• Public Health

Background:

• Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of cancer treatment, alongside surgery and chemotherapy.
• The complexity of radiation therapy, coupled with resource limitations in low- and middle-income countries, increases the potential for patient safety incidents.
• There is a growing need for a proactive, risk-management approach to improve patient safety in modern radiation therapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and assess the risks associated with radiation therapy practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• To establish a baseline understanding of incident occurrence and severity in a specific national context.

Main Methods:

• An anonymous, voluntary, electronic online radiation therapy incident reporting system (IRS) was developed.
• The IRS collected data on the working environment, incident occurrence, root causes, contributing factors, and severity assessment.
• Risk assessment was performed using the Risk Matrix method on data from the first 60 reported incidents.

Main Results:

• The study classified 41.7% of incidents as low risk, 50% as moderate risk, and 8.3% as high risk.
• The risk profile indicated that incidents with low frequency and occurrence probability but high severity pose the greatest risk.
• The electronic IRS proved effective in identifying and categorizing significant risk factors.

Conclusions:

• The electronic online radiation therapy incident reporting system (IRS) facilitates the identification and classification of critical risk factors.
• This system aids in the prevention of serious incidents, thereby enhancing patient safety in radiation therapy.
• The findings underscore the importance of systematic risk assessment and reporting in radiotherapy practice.